


after the end(game)

by tcnystcnks



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Basically, But also, Canon Compliant, F/F, It Makes Sense When You Read It, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Soulmate AU, because i'm in pain so yall should be in pain too, but a rewrite of some scenes, its confusing, kind of, not a fix it, there's hints of a soulmate au, this is just angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-08 20:21:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18630607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tcnystcnks/pseuds/tcnystcnks
Summary: “And I,” he says, with supreme effort, bringing his fingers together, “am Iron Man”





	after the end(game)

_canon compliant, but also canon divergent; established winteriron and established peppernat; established tony &nat bromance; not a fix it (i mean, i’m not changing the ending but i’m just rewriting a couple of scenes); soulmate a_ _u_

_\--_

_major endgame spoilers_

_\--_

Thor and Rocket are the first to return, bending over the quantum machine as they reorient themselves; Rocket clutching the vial of Aether like its his last grip on humanity

It’s silent for a few seconds, and then Rocket says, “I’m sorry you didn’t get to see your brother”

Thor smiles, but there’s no warmth in it, “My brother doomed me when he brought the Tesseract on board, he always did have an unhealthy obsession with it. But then he died, trying to save me, with nothing more than a dagger”

He turns to Rocket,  “I’m not sure Rabbit, if I would punch him or hug him had I seen him. So maybe its for the best”

Banner comes shortly after, clutching the time stone in his green hands, ‘Whe- where are the others?”

“On their way I presume,” Thor says, “It isn’t exceptionally easy to obtain infinity stones after all”

“So wha- what do we do now?”

“Now,” Rocket intones, “Now we wait”

\--

Scott is next, Loki’s staff in hand

“Steve and Tony,” he says in between gasps, “They’ve gone - they’ve gone, they’ve gone further back. Things got messed up and Tony thinks there’s a chance for them in 1970″

He looks around, as if there’s people hiding behind Bruce, “where’s everyone?”

“On their way”

\--

\--

“Howard Barnes,” Tony hears himself say, stretching his arm out for Jarvis to shake

“It’s very nice to meet you Mr Barnes,” Jarvis replies, and  _god_ has Tony missed hearing his voice, “I can’t say I’ve seen you around before”

“I’ve uh, just transferred in from the California branch,” Tony replies quickly, “The missus didn’t like it much”

“Ah yes, the trials and tribunals of living near a beach, that can take a toll on a lady,” there’s a glint in Jarvis’ eyes and Tony has to blink back tears, so caught up in old memories

“Tell me Mr Barnes, do you have kids?” They’re walking out of the building, and Tony can see Steve signalling for him; but he just wants a few more seconds

“No but I do have a niece, who I love like she’s my own”

“I can’t say I don’t know what that’s like,” and Tony follows his gaze to where,  _god,_  his father is fussing over a little him

Howard notices Jarvis looking at him and waves him over, and Tony feels like his heart is caught in his chest

“Well, I must be off,” Jarvis says, outstretching his arm, “But It was very nice -  _oh!_ ”

He gets cut off when Tony pulls him in for a hug, taking in that uniquely Jarvis smell that always gave him comfort

“You know, I always loved my butler a lot more than I did my father growing up,” Tony says, just before he’s about to leave, “he really did do a good job of raising me after all”

He walks away before Jarvis can call after him, practically sprinting over Steve

“Who was that,” Steve asks, just as they’re about to use the Pym Particles

“Somebody I wish I knew better,” Tony replies, and they’re back in the lab

\--

\--

She pushes their heads together, intertwining their hands

‘Its okay,” she whispers, “It’s okay this is my choice”

She walks backwards, acutely aware of when she reaches the end of the cliff, and she looks him in the eye, tears flowing freely

“Tell them,” her voice catches in her throat, “Tell them all I love them okay?”

and then she steps back, and  _falls_

(thousands of miles away, Pepper crumbles against the bed from where she’s tucking Morgan in for the night)

\--

\--

The last to come back is Clint, who crumbles against the side of the machine like a puppet who’s strings have been cut

the soul stone falls out from his limp hand

and in that horrifying second, Tony knows what’s happened

\--

“She was the closest thing I had to a sister you know,” Tony says when Rhodey enters the room

“I know”

“She loved me”

“I know”

“She’s left behind a wife and a kid. A kid  _I_  helped make. Went to the sperm bank and donated and everything”

“I know Tones”

He places a hand on Tony’s shoulder and that’s all it takes for him to collapse, sobbing against Rhodey

“She wouldn’t that done this if it wasn’t for me,” he says in between shuddering gasps, “She wouldn’t have come back if I hadn’t asked her too”

“She would still be alive”

\--

\--

He sees James on the battlefield and his bond  _soars_ , and he’s flying with reckless abandon; crashing into him and pressing their lips together

“god i missed you,” he whispers in between bruising kisses, and James is clutching onto him so hard he thinks the armour may break

“i missed you too doll but i don’t know if you’ve realised, we’re in the middle of a war,” James lets go of Tony gently, lifting his hands to cup his cheeks, “fight now, reunite later?”

Except

there’s no later

because despite their best efforts, Thanos knocks Carol to the ground and gets the gauntlet

and Tony uses everything he has to force his fingers apart, kicking and squirming like he’s a kid apart candy

and from the corner of his eye, he sees Strange lift a single finger, and suddenly he knows what he had to do

(he wonders if Natasha was quite this scared)

“i saw you, you know,” Thanos says as he throws Tony against the ground, “the only Terran to figure out time travel”

“You are a formidable foe Stark, but I; am inevitable”

and  _there,_ its the smallest opening but Tony lunges- staggering backwards as the full force of the 6 infinity stones courses through him

“And I,” he says, with supreme effort, bringing his fingers together, “am Iron Man”

**and snaps**

\--

Bucky falls to his knees just as everything around him is turning to dust

He can’t comprehend the irony of the situation, too focused on the gaping hole in his chest

Steve rushes by his side, scanning him for injuries

“Bu- Buck? What’s going on?”

“Tony,” he manages to garble out, staggering on his feet to the general direction of where he saw Tony last

He catches the tail end of the spiderkid talking to Tony, “... Mr Stark we won! It’s okay Mr Stark you did it”

He falls forward, cupping Tony’s cheeks, crying when he sees the pain in his eyes, “Hey its okay doll, you did good. You can rest now, you did good”

He smiles through the pain, but he’s sure that it comes out as a grimace, “It’s okay, you’re okay, we’re going to be okay”

Tony whispers, “James,” and he freezes in the motion of saying something more

and James collapses against him, tears flowing freely

_Fin_

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr saw it first](https://desitonystark.tumblr.com/post/184502480542/after-the-endgame)  
> [my ig](https://www.instagram.com/tcnystcnks/)  
> -A


End file.
